Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from the 2018 NBA offseason

2. Continuity is a factor

As much as external additions are necessary, retaining the incumbents is just as imperative. If there’s no continuity in the locker room, can the players really trust the front office?

Luckily, Marks treads this line very well. He rewarded Joe Harris mere minutes after free agency started with a two-year, $16 million deal. Harris earned it, too; his developments as more than just a shooter are well-documented, as is his aforementioned marksmanship.

This is a sign of things to come for players whose contracts expire soon. D’Angelo Russell and Hollis-Jefferson are due for restricted free agency next summer; a betting man would probably put his money on at least one of them returning, and probably both.

Spencer Dinwiddie is ticketed for unrestricted free agency, so his will be a little more tricky. Atkinson really likes him though, and that’s an evident factor in Marks’ maneuvers. The culture of being rewarded for improvement is a healthy one, and the Nets hope to continue that trend going forward.

That internal strength can spread externally too. Players want to come to an organization that rewards them. In an era where loyalty is almost nonexistent in the NBA, stability can be the players’ way to push back against stringent front offices.

Not every player can be kept; after all, only 17 players can be owned at a given time. But the ones who make the biggest impacts on the court have been rewarded by this organization so far. The allure of that continuing makes Brooklyn a destination by itself.